Trump Losing To Biden On This?

A new survey released in January by Harvard University in partnership with The Harris Poll suggests public opinion has shifted slightly in favor of former President Biden when compared with President Trump’s current performance.

According to the poll, 51 percent of respondents said Trump is doing a worse job than Biden did, while 49 percent believe Trump is performing better than his predecessor. That represents a notable change from December, when 53 percent of those surveyed said Trump was doing a better job than Biden. The trend is even more pronounced when compared with February 2025, when 58 percent of respondents said Trump was outperforming Biden.

Despite the back-and-forth comparison, both presidents continue to receive more negative than positive ratings overall. Trump’s unfavorable rating exceeded his favorable rating by 8 percentage points, while Biden’s unfavorable rating was 10 points higher than his favorable rating among respondents.

The Trump administration has faced increased criticism from Democrats and segments of the public following two fatal shootings involving federal immigration officers in Minneapolis last month. One of those incidents, the Jan. 24 killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection agents, led Trump to dispatch White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota to oversee federal immigration enforcement operations.

Homan emerged as one of the few figures tested in the poll with slightly more favorable than unfavorable views. Twenty-five percent of respondents said they viewed him positively, compared with 23 percent who expressed a negative opinion. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was the only other political figure in the survey to receive a net positive rating.

Economic concerns are also weighing on public sentiment as the midterm elections approach. While half of respondents in December said the economy was stronger than it had been under Biden, that figure slipped to 47 percent in the January survey. Among independent voters, nearly 60 percent said they believe the economy is performing worse under Trump than it did under Biden.

Recent inflation data may be contributing to those concerns. In December, inflation stood at 2.7 percent year over year, with food prices rising 3.1 percent and energy costs up 2.3 percent, according to federal data. By comparison, inflation last February measured 2.8 percent annually, with food prices increasing 2.6 percent and energy prices declining slightly.

The Harvard-Harris survey was conducted online between Jan. 28 and Jan. 29 among 2,000 registered voters and carries a margin of error of approximately 2 percentage points.